Early the next morning at the break of dawn, Ruan Yu was awakened by the doorbell. She struggled under the covers for a moment before grabbing her hair and sitting up. Throwing a coat over her pajamas, she yawned her way to the door and glanced through the peephole—only to jolt awake in surprise.
It was that police officer from last time, Fang Zhen.
She hurriedly opened the door.
The stern-faced officer looked solemn. Though he clearly remembered her, he insisted on going through the formalities: "Are you Ruan Yu, Ms. Ruan?"
She nodded cooperatively. "Yes, that's me. What's the matter, Officer Fang?"
Fang Zhen picked up his notepad and pen as he spoke: "Just gathering some information. Were you harassed by a drunkard between 2 to 3 AM this morning, Ms. Ruan?"
A drunkard? Harassment?
Ruan Yu shook her head. "No."
"Did you hear any unusual noises during that time?"
"No." She'd been scrolling through Weibo at that hour.
"Thank you for your cooperation." Fang Zhen nodded and turned to leave, but added before going, "Make sure to lock your doors and windows at night recently. Be cautious about burglaries."
"Has there been some incident in our area?"
"According to multiple residents' reports, many households in this area were harassed by what appears to be the same drunkard early this morning. And all these households share one common characteristic."
Ruan Yu blinked. "What characteristic?"
Fang Zhen pointed his pen above her head. "They all have the number 302 on their doorplates.What kind of perverted behavior was this? Did this number hold some special magic?
After saying this, he left, leaving Ruan Yu secretly terrified. This wasn't her imagination running wild—there was genuinely a criminal lurking nearby.
This Officer Fang might as well not have said anything. Now how was she, a woman living alone, supposed to sleep soundly at night?
After all, she'd heard that all the 302 households in this area had already been harassed—except hers.
Ruan Yu pulled out her phone and asked Shen Mingying if she'd be home alone tonight, only to receive the reply: "My boyfriend's here, why?"
Too embarrassed to third-wheel, she fibbed, "No reason." When night fell, she locked all doors and windows but still felt uneasy. Tossing and turning until midnight, she remained half-awake.
At 12:15 AM, a thunderclap split the sky as torrential rain began pouring outside.
Now Ruan Yu really couldn't sleep. Resigned, she browsed Weibo again and posted an update: Lying awake listening to wind and rain, drunkard please don't come attack. 🙏
After posting, she watched some funny videos to distract herself. Just as she was about to lock her screen, she suddenly received a new email.
From Xu Huaisong.
Opening it, she found an attached document containing several new suggestions regarding the anti-color palette.
People still working at this hour were truly the elites of this city.
Out of respect for such elites and the camaraderie of fellow night owls, her resistance toward Xu Huaisong lessened slightly. She opened their WeChat chat and thanked him: Lawyer Xu, I've received the email. Working on my case at this hour—you've worked hard.
Xu Huaisong replied quickly: Incidentally.
Ruan Yu carefully pondered these two words.
Ah, if he was in San Francisco, it would only be 9:30 AM there. Either he hadn't adjusted to the time difference yet, or he was working across oceans.
So this hour probably wasn't an interruption for him.
Thus she said: If you have time, could we discuss the case?
Xu Huaisong: Can't video call. Voice call.
This suited Ruan Yu perfectly.She turned her head to switch on the bedside lamp. As soon as the bedroom brightened, she received his voice call invitation.
Answering the call while pushing aside the thin blanket to get out of bed, she slipped on her slippers and said, "Wait a moment, I need to grab some documents."
Xu Huaisong responded with an "Mmm."
Just as Ruan Yu opened her bedroom door, a flash of lightning illuminated the dark corners of the living room like a scene from a horror movie.
Shivering, she quickly turned on the ceiling light while trying to ease her discomfort through conversation: "Lawyer Xu."
"What is it?"
"Is it raining where you are?"
"It just stopped."
"Then the dark clouds must have drifted over to me..."
Silence fell on the other end, perhaps unsure how to respond.
But the documents were nowhere to be found, misplaced somewhere unknown.
She had to start another topic, suddenly turning into a chatterbox: "Lawyer Xu, the method you taught me last time for dealing with troublemakers seemed quite professional. Could I ask you another question?"
"Mmm."
"If a drunkard harasses someone late at night, would the same approach work?"
"..."
Xu Huaisong remained silent. Outside, a fierce wind began howling, rattling the windows and doors.
Hearing no response, Ruan Yu asked, "Are you still there, Lawyer Xu?"
Xu Huaisong cleared his throat lightly: "Bad connection. Could you repeat that?"
She finally found the right document. After turning off the ceiling light, she dashed back to her bedroom and only replied once safely under the covers: "Oh, never mind." Sitting cross-legged, she flipped to the corresponding page in the email. "Let's begin."
Outside, the rain quickly lightened and soon stopped completely, leaving only droplets persistently trickling from the eaves.
Such scenes of freshly ceased downpours were countless in her memories of those three high school years.
The railings of the stadium bleachers, the windowsills along the school corridors, the flagpole on the ceremonial platform—all had once held such suspended droplets.
Ruan Yu disliked rain but loved the sight of its aftermath.
She remembered a line from her diary: "The clean, radiant youthfulness about you brightened every single rainy season of my girlhood."
Back then, Xu Huaisong had walked through her favorite post-rain scenes time and again.
"What are you doing?" His voice suddenly broke through, likely having realized she wasn't listening after speaking at length.
Snapping back to attention, she murmured, "Ah... I was watching... the rain stop."
"Mmm."
Ruan Yu wasn't using earphones, so the sound came through the speaker.
In the quiet night, every sound in the bedroom became exceptionally clear.
Xu Huaisong said, "The third paragraph."
She picked up: "This part is just background information, right?"
"Mmm."
"I don't think this setting needs explanation. What high school doesn't have a strict dean? Unless yours..."
"Unless my what?"
"I mean... didn't your school have one?"
"Can't remember."
"Oh..."
The occasional plink of water droplets hitting the awning created a hypnotic effect.
Ruan Yu couldn't recall when she'd begun struggling to keep her eyes open. She only knew that when she was awakened by birdsong at dawn and saw the "05:52:00" displayed above the "call ended" notification on her phone screen by her pillow, she couldn't help but gasp in surprise.Then, a rustling sound came from the other end of the phone, the noise of blankets and clothes rubbing together, followed by Xu Huaisong's slightly hoarse and not entirely clear voice: "What are you doing?"
"..."
Ruan Yu was utterly startled, feeling as if he had just woken up right beside her.
She quickly picked up the phone to explain, "I think I accidentally fell asleep last night..." After saying this, she felt a strange sensation. "Why didn’t you hang up the call?"
Xu Huaisong sighed. "Then I must have fallen asleep around the same time."
"..."
To discuss a case so absentmindedly was truly unparalleled. Weren’t they supposed to be the elites of this city?
She uttered an "Oh," feeling uneasy in this awkward atmosphere, and was about to "hang up first to save face" when she suddenly heard a sudden, piercing "Wee-woo—wee-woo—" from Xu Huaisong’s end.
She froze. "What’s that sound?"
"An ambulance."
"Why is there an ambulance?"
Xu Huaisong seemed to turn over. "I’m at the hospital."
By the time Xu Huaisong finished his IV drip, it was nearly noon. Liu Mao and Chen Hui arrived at the hospital room just as the nurse had removed his needle.
Chen Hui handed him a box of congee and moved the laptop from the hospital bed for him. As his gaze swept over the open screen, he paused slightly. "Huh? Ambulance siren sound test? Brother Song, why are you looking this up?"
Xu Huaisong opened the congee box and said indifferently, "No reason. Just felt like listening to some music."
Liu Mao glanced at his pale face and shook his head. "Listening to ambulance sirens for a thrill? If you don’t have the constitution for it, don’t go looking for excitement. How did you end up with such a stomach after living in the U.S.?"
Xu Huaisong brushed it off. "Just an occupational hazard."
Liu Mao chuckled dryly. "I’m a lawyer too. Why don’t I have any issues? Xiao Chen, you’re fine, right?" After the sarcastic remark, he added, "Knowing your stomach is weak, yet you gobble down over a dozen rice cakes and down a row of vodka shots. If I were a girl, I’d steer clear of a man who has no sense of limits and doesn’t value his life."
Chen Hui, unaware of Liu Mao’s insinuation, widened his eyes. "Brother Mao, so that’s your preference?"
"Get lost!" Liu Mao shot him a look and shooed him away before turning back to Xu Huaisong. "Did the police come by yesterday?"
Xu Huaisong swallowed a spoonful of congee and nodded. "Now I have a record."
"I’ll never dare let you go out alone to drink and act crazy again." Liu Mao laughed until his stomach hurt. "In the middle of the night, you really knocked on over a dozen doors labeled 302?"
But that wasn’t the point. The point was, he had knocked on over a dozen doors labeled 302, yet perfectly avoided the one correct building.
This level of drunkenness was truly impressive.
Liu Mao took a moment to recover before saying, "What a shame."
As soon as he finished speaking, a female nurse knocked on the door and announced, "Mr. Xu, a Miss Ruan is here to see you."
A flicker of surprise passed through Liu Mao’s eyes.
Xu Huaisong nodded to the nurse. After she left, he responded to Liu Mao’s earlier comment, "No, it’s not a shame."
Liu Mao suddenly understood his meaning.
What kind of person was Xu Huaisong in the courtroom? He was meticulous, calculating, and firmly believed that if he couldn’t strike with precision, it was as good as a complete defeat.
He could accept failure, but he would never tolerate any mistakes, rejecting all untimely recklessness.
To him, love was like a courtroom. Every patient and detailed setup and buildup was all for the final, decisive verdict.And now was not the time to drop the hammer, so failing to knock open that door was actually something to be grateful for.
Xu Huaisong closed the lid of the porridge container and handed it to Liu Mao, instructing him to throw it in the trash.
In the hallway, Ruan Yu walked slowly in their direction, carrying a thermos in one hand and a stack of documents in the other.
Author's Note: Scumbag, didn't you learn in elementary school that "every grain comes from hard work"?
Everyone, these past two days have been special circumstances. Updates will return to evenings going forward. Tomorrow's chapter will be posted later than usual, around 11 PM, because it needs to be eligible for the thousand-word earnings ranking.
OpenNovel